Funds under management (FUM) at Australian Ethical are approaching $10 billion as it reports net flows of $145 million during the last quarter.
In its quarterly results for the three months to 31 December, the firm said FUM was $9.6 billion, up by 5 per cent from $9.2 billion in the previous quarter.
Looking across the six-month period, net flows were $259 million, up 39 per cent from $186 million in the same period a year ago.
FUM was divided between $2 billion in managed funds and $7.6 billion in superannuation.
This was driven by $145 million in net flows thanks to continued customer growth and superannuation guarantee contributions which provided a strong annuity-based source of net flows.
The firm merged with Christian Super in November 2022, which brought over 28,000 members to the super fund division. The merger with Christian Super had come about after the fund failed the Your Future, Your Super performance test and was urged to merge with a larger fund by the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA).
However, managed funds saw net outflows of $7 million, which the firm attributed to “cautious investor sentiment relating to broader market volatility”.
Investment performance reported to positive territory during the quarter of $325 million, which managed to offset losses during the previous quarter of $124 million. This meant half-yearly investment performance was $202 million.
Managing director, John McMurdo, said: “This impressive result has been achieved despite the continued challenging conditions impacting the broader market, with our superannuation product set providing diversification to our growth in these volatile conditions.
“With more than 10 years of consecutive positive quarterly net inflows, Australian Ethical continues to deliver strong and consistent business growth through different market cycles.”
“Our strategic transformation plan has meant the company continues to move from strength to strength, supported by strong headline growth, increased scale and improving underlying operating leverage. The consistent and continued business growth we are delivering reflects the growing consumer demand for our style of investing and the quality of our business model and delivery.”
